In 2004, he founded the production company The Stone Quarry (formerly known as Cruel and Unusual Films) alongside his wife Deborah Snyder and producing partner Wesley Coller.
Early life and education
Zachary Edward Snyder was born on March 1, 1966, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and raised in Riverside, Connecticut[2] and/or Greenwich, Connecticut.[3] His mother, Marsha Manley (née Reeves), was a painter and a photography teacher at Daycroft School, which Snyder later attended. His father, Charles Edward "Ed" Snyder, worked as an executive recruiter.[4][5][6][2] Marsha always nurtured her son's artistic side, buying him his first film camera.[3] He has an older sister, Audrey.[7] He also had a brother, Sam, who died when Snyder was a teenager.[8][better source needed]
He studied painting a year after high school at Heatherley School of Fine Art in England, although he had already begun filmmaking.[9] Back in high school, Snyder struggled due to his dyslexia and made his first film there with the camera his mother bought him, using it to make an unflattering commentary about his school's administration that got him expelled.[3] Afterward, Snyder attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.[9] His classmates included fellow future Hollywood directors Michael Bay and Tarsem Singh. Despite being Indian, Singh also played a Nazi in a short film by Snyder.[10] He graduated with a BFA in film in 1989.[11]
The production notes for Snyder's first film Dawn of the Dead describes Snyder as "a comic book and horror film enthusiast in his youth".[12]
After graduating, Snyder directed commercials as well as music videos for ZZ Top and Morrissey, where he met his future wife Deborah, who was then a music producer.[3] Snyder directed "Respect" for Budweiser, which came out in February 2002. The 60-second commercial depicts a group of horses traveling toward the site of the 9/11 terror attacks to pay their respects to the victims with a bow.[13]
Snyder made his feature film debut with the remake of the horror film Dawn of the Dead (2004), and scored a box office hit with the fantasy war film 300 (2006), adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller's Dark Horse Comicsminiseries of the same name. His Warner Bros. film Watchmen was released on March 6, 2009, and grossed $185 million worldwide. His follow-up project/animation debut, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, was released on September 24, 2010. Snyder produced, co-wrote, and directed Sucker Punch,[14] which was released on March 25, 2011. The film, based on a script written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya, was about a young woman in a mental hospital who fantasizes of escape with her fellow inmates.
During Comic Con 2013, Snyder announced that Batman and Superman would share the screen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, released in 2016. Snyder directed, Cavill reprised his role as Superman, and Ben Affleck played Batman.[15] Snyder directed Warner Bros.' 2017 Justice League, but he exited during post-production to deal with the death of his daughter, Autumn Snyder.[16][17] His replacement was Joss Whedon.[17][1]
On January 29, 2019, Snyder announced that he had signed on to helm Army of the Dead, a zombie heist thriller, for Netflix. Snyder directed and produced the film with his partner and wife, Deborah Snyder, via their newly rebranded production company, The Stone Quarry.[18] His agreement with Netflix has since expanded into several Army of the Dead projects; Army of Thieves, a prequel released in 2021, and Planet of the Dead, a sequel to be created.[19]
On May 20, 2020, Snyder announced that Zack Snyder's Justice League would be released on the streaming service HBO Max in 2021.[20] The film was released on March 18, 2021.
As of February 2021[update], Snyder was developing a King Arthur film, which he said would be a "faithful retelling"[25] set during the American Gold rush era.[26]
Following Rebel Moon, Snyder will return to direct Planet of the Dead, a sequel to Army of the Dead.[27] He also signed a first-look deal with Netflix.[28]
In May 2021 it was reported that Snyder had been developing Horse Latitudes, a film about two war photographers since 2011, although the project was on hold while he works at Netflix.[29] After a period of relative silence on the film, he mentioned to DC Cinematic Cast on September 13, 2024, that Horse Latitudes had found an investor.[30]
Snyder held the television rights to an adaptation of Black Kiss, a late-1980s comic by Howard Chaykin. Snyder wrote the pilot, but couldn't find any takers.[31]
In 2022, Snyder expressed interest in directing a science fiction film adaptation of the Adult Swim cartoon series Rick and Morty, feeling that such a film would be the closest project he could tackle to make a comedy film.[32]
In a November 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Snyder stated that while he no longer had any interest in tackling superhero comic book adaptations in light of the DCEU continuity's conclusion with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, he only consider returning for the DC Universe if James Gunn invited him back to direct a faithful adaptation of Miller's The Dark Knight Returns comic book.[3]
Blood and Ashes would have been the third film set in the world of 300. Snyder and Johnstad wrote the movie during the COVID-19 pandemic on request from Warner Bros, but Warner did not pick the project up. What started as the final piece of a trilogy became its own story as it developed, separate from the main plot of the franchise, but part of the same world. The film would have been a love story about Alexander the Great's relationship with Hephaestion during a time of war.[34] It likely would have been a loose adaptation of the Alexander the Great segments from Frank Miller's graphic novel Xerxes. In 2023, the Stone Quarry gained the movie rights from Warner Bros.[31]
Filmmaking
Style
Snyder often uses slow motion, particularly the technique of speed ramping, in and out of the fight scenes in his films. This differs from other directors who make multiple cuts and close-ups during a fight. A minute-long shot from 300 shows King Leonidas slaughtering his enemies, the camera zooming in and out to emphasize each kill and move Leonidas makes.[35]
Snyder said
There are other superhero movies where they joke about how basically no one's getting hurt. That's not us. What is that message? That it's okay that there's this massive destruction with zero consequence for anyone? That's what Watchmen was about in a lot of ways too. There was a scene, that scene where Dan and Laurie get mugged. They beat up the criminals. I was like the first guy, I want to show his arm get broken. I want a compound fracture. I don't want it to be clean. I want you to go, 'Oh my God, I guess you're right. If you just beat up a guy in an alley he's not going to just be lying on the ground. It's going to be messy'.[36]
The Netflix production Army of the Dead was a special project for Snyder as he served as his own cinematographer, as well as this being his first film shot digitally.[37]
Reception
Snyder has been described as one of the most polarizing directors of modern cinema.[38][39] David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote that Snyder's "name alone is enough to launch a thousand angry tweets, and the most passionate writing about his work is exclusively found in the comment sections of websites like this one. Snyder's critics really seem to hate him, and Snyder's fans really seem to hate his critics ... Is Snyder a master or a hack? A misunderstood myth-maker, or a meathead with a movie camera?"[38] Film critic Armond White listed Snyder as one of the four best filmmakers of the 2010s.[40] Director James Cameron praised Snyder, listing him as one of the filmmakers who created their own "cinematic language".[41]
Snyder has eight children: two biological children and two adopted daughters with Weber, two biological sons from a relationship with Kirsten Elin, and two adopted children with Johnson.[7] The suicide of his daughter Autumn prompted Snyder to withdraw from post-production work on Justice League in May 2017 to be with his family, which resulted in Joss Whedon completing the film in his place.[17][1]
Philanthropy
Following his daughter's suicide, Snyder became involved in philanthropic activities directed towards suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Snyder promoted this effort on social media by selling clothing and merchandise related to the Snyder Cut; in May 2021, it was revealed that this effort had raised more than $750,000 in charitable donations to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.[46]
In another effort to help with suicide prevention, Snyder included a billboard for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention with the message "You are not alone" in a scene in Zack Snyder's Justice League. The film features other tributes to his late daughter.[47][48][49]
I vote Democrat! I'm a true lover of individual rights. I've always been a super-strong advocate of women's rights and a woman's right to choose, and I've always been surrounded by powerful women. And, of course, I'm a huge advocate for the rights of all ethnicities and every walk of life. I would say I'm a pretty liberal guy. I want to make sure everyone's heard and everyone feels included. I don't have a rightwing political agenda. People see what they want to see. For me, that was not certainly the point.[54]
Directed 2 episodes Co-created with Jay Oliva and Eric Carrasco[59][60]
Awards and nominations
Snyder's body of work has earned him a number of awards, including two Clio Awards and a Gold Lion Award for his Jeep "Frisbee" commercial.[61] He also won the Society of British Advertisers Award for Humor for his controversial EB Beer commercial "General's Party."[62][63]
^Snyder was the director of Justice League during principal photography, but was replaced by Joss Whedon during post-production. Snyder retained directorial credit for the finished film, though reports have indicated Whedon reshot a significant portion of the film. Snyder later edited a director's cut of the film, removing all of Whedon's footage and restoring his own footage that was deleted in the theatrical release.[1][17][20]
^Snyder shot four to five minutes of additional footage in late 2020 for his cut.[1][17][20]
^The R-rated director's cut is retitled Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood[55]
^The R-rated director's cut is retitled Rebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness[56]
^White, Armond (January 8, 2020). "Best Movies of the Decade". National Review. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
